Short-Lived Matrimony

A wedding was taking place between a groom who was 45 years old and his bride who was only 20 years old. The relatives on the groom's side were extremely happy that he was getting such a young and beautiful bride. But the relatives on the bride's side were miserable, because there was such a large difference in their ages.

The bride loved her husband-to-be very, very much. She said, "Who cares for age? I am 20 years old and he is 45. But I love him dearly and he loves me dearly."

The marriage ceremony had just begun. Soon the priest would pronounce the groom and his bride to be husband and wife. A very close friend of the groom was also present at the wedding. He was an excellent humorist; everyone enjoyed this man's humour.

Just as the wedding ceremony was over, the humorist-friend whispered something into his friend's ear. He said, "You are so lucky that when you are 90, twice your current age, your wife will only be 40, which is double her present age. At age 90, you will have such a young and beautiful wife!" The groom smiled broadly.

The bride was very curious and anxious to know what the humorist was whispering. She thought, "Perhaps my husband's humorist-friend is whispering something very nice!"

The friend said, "If you do not mind, I can tell you what I just whispered to your husband. I said to him that he is now 45 years old. If you double his age, he will be 90; and if you double your age, you will be 40. This is a very large difference — 50 years. People will wonder how a 40-year-old woman can have a 90-year-old man as her husband!"

"What? What are you saying?" the girl exclaimed.

"I am just saying that if you double your ages, your husband will be 90 years old when you are only 40."

"He will be 90 years old and I will only be 40? At that age, he will not be able to help me in the slightest! I will have to take care of him when he is 90 years old? Now he is 45 and has money, property and so many valuable things. When he is much older, he will not be able to earn anything, and I will have to support him all by myself! Oh, no, I am not going to do that! Let us cancel the marriage immediately."

So the marriage ended because the young bride did not want to take care of her husband when he was 90 years old! The marriage lasted only for a few hours!